Mike
Duckham, Mark Breaks and I decide to book a last minute trip to Israel from
Manchester for some winter sunshine with temperatures ranging between 3 – 22
degrees Celsius. (A visit to a snow capped Mount Hermon accounts for the low
temp.) Knowing that it wasn’t the best time for a birding visit didn’t deter
from the fact that there was still many resident and wintering birds of
interest even though two of the group had visited neighbouring Jordan just last
year. We were able to find lots of birding information from the web but we
ended up regretting not finding more precise directions to specific locations
which we struggled to find at times. Everyone we met were very welcoming and
food & accommodation was good, we had booked some accommodation prior to
travel with the later part of the trip organised out there, prices very similar
to the UK. Roads were very good as we clocked up the kilometres travelling
around the country and the car was fine except for the annoying security
keypad. Military personal were everywhere in the south desert areas carrying
out training exercises but this had little impact on our birding except for
‘firing zone’ areas that are only accessible on Saturdays.

We arrived in Tel Aviv just after dark on the 3rd
January, after passing through passport control with ease and picking up the
hire car we headed south and found our way to Ezuz.

4th January

We headed off first thing from our
accommodation to Nizzana for our first Bustard scanning session. Although, we
did not find the Bustards on our first attempt we did pick up plenty of Mourning Wheatears, Stonechats, Southern Grey Shrikes, Chukars
and a couple of Hen Harriers.

As we arrived back at Ezuz for
breakfast our first Sandgrouse dropped in just behind the toilet block and
turned out to be a stunning pair of Crowned
Sandgrouse that gave amazingly good views. Shortly afterwards, a lone Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew over
towards Egypt. The campground held many more common species including Black Redstart and Crested Lark. More unidentified, probably Crowned Sandgrouse flew
overhead.

Crowned SandgrouseBlackstart

A second attempt at the Bustards along
the road to Nizzana was not successful. However, we did get more Black-bellied Sandgrouse, our first of
many flocks of Sand Partridge and a
cracking male Pallid Harrier and Arabian Babblers.

Sand Partridge

At the end of the Nizzana road was a
sewage works type place that had a nice Black-winged
Kite sitting in a tree at the far end. The water itself held many wintering
ducks including Shelduck, Teal and Shoveler as well as waders such as Ruff, Greenshank and Black-winged Stilts.

Our next stop was Urim to look for
Saker Falcon and any wintering Eagles. We got neither of these. However, we did
get plenty of Black Kites, Steppe
Buzzards and Peregrines around
the fields and power lines. At a reserve in the Urim area we added species like
Stone Curlew, Sparrowhawk and Marsh
Harrier to the trip list. Shortly before leaving the reserve back to the
main Urim road we found 2 Egyptian Geese
sitting on a small building.

On the way back south we had one last
check of the Nizzana area again for the Bustards. On the road corner turning to
Ezuz is a military looking building that had 2 Namaqua Doves sitting on the wires outside. After dipping the
Bustards again we headed south in the dark to Eilat but did achieve great views
of a pair of Little Owls.

Little Owl

5th January

As soon as we woke up House Crows were all around the hostel.
First stop was North Beach. A Caspian
Tern patrolled the beach (apparently the first one of the winter). We
picked out another distant Tern sp
on the floating pontoon that we failed to identify. It looked like a winter
plumage adult Common Tern or White-cheeked Tern. Common is supposed to be the
most likely but both are very rare at this time of year in Israel. White-eyed Gulls were numerous along
with a couple of larger Gulls on the beach which were barabensis Steppe Gulls.
As we were looking through the Gulls a Brown
Booby flew in and landed on the pontoon, shortly joined by a second bird. They
spent their time loafing around tugging on the pontoon ropes.A lone Grey
Plover walked along the sand. Behind the beach on the ‘land mine’ stream
were a Western Reef Heron, several Spur-winged Plovers, Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, Little Stints
and Common Sandpipers. A Citrine Wagtail was a nice surprise as
we later found out to be the first in the south, this winter. Our first of many
Pied Kingfishers sat on a wire
nearby as Rock Martins flew
overhead.

White-eyed GullWestern
Reef Heron

The road towards the reserve itself
produced very little apart from our only Indian
Silverbills of the trip as was a flock of 20 Desert Finches and a few Red-throated
Pipits around the fields. The reserve had many common waders including Marsh Sandpipers and a handful of Greater Flamingos. Here we bumped into
Yea a local ringer, who provided us with plenty of useful information and
joined us on a couple of birding trips.

Red-throated Pipit

After leaving the reserve we headed up
the Eilat mountains to Wadi Shlomo. Trip ticks here included White-crowned Black Wheatear, Blackstarts and a lone Hooded Wheatear. Apparently it has been
a bumper year for Hooded Wheatears, however this particular bird only showed to
just one member of the group. There was also a fine group of Nubian Ibex that were
relatively tame as continued dryer weather conditions means food supply in the
mountains is becoming harder to find.

Nubian Ibex

We then went back to the reserve to
pick up Rea and head off to Yotvata. Upon arrival at Yotvata circular fields, Red-throated and Water Pipits, White Wagtails
and various species of Lark could be heard everywhere. Our target here was Oriental Skylark which we got after a
patient search through the large Skylark flocks. We ended up seeing at least
five of which 2 showed extremely well on the soil away from the main Skylark
flock.

Oriental Skylark

6th January

We stopped in once again at North
Beach first thing with very similar results to the previous day, minus the two
Terns. A Brown Booby was still
present as was the Citrine Wagtail.
A new Western Reef Heron dropped in
briefly.

Brown BoobyCitrine
Wagtail

Next stop was the Km20 saltpans. Many Greater Flamingos wandered around the
pans as did many of the common waders. 3
Avocets were a new addition to the trip list, as were a pair of Barbary Falcons sitting on the huge
mast.

We then went to Yotvata again to look
through the Acacia trees for Arabian Warblers. We did not see any, however we
did get plenty of Sardinian Warblers,
Chiffchaffs, Lesser Whitethroat,Shrub
Warbler as well as Palestine
Sunbirds and Hoopoe.

Hoopoe

A trip to Lotan Kibbutz added nothing
to the trip list. However, it did give us great views of Little Green Bee-eaters and Pipits
on the water works. A stop at South Yotvata Acacias on the way back held more
of the same species seen earlier during the day with the addition of a White-crowned Black Wheatear. A Long-legged Buzzard near the Km20
saltpans was new to our trip list.

Little Green Bee-eater

7th January

Again in the morning we checked the
Gull flock at North Beach and ventured down to the Egyptian border were we
found a couple of 1st winter barabensis gulls. Another stop at
the wildlife reserve was productive. We had our first Dead Sea Sparrows (c6) with the Spanish and House Sparrows.
A Little Ringed Plover was on the
stream outside the reserve. On a quick trip to Km20 saltpans we managed to find
some Kentish Plovers with the Ringed Plovers at Km20 saltpans. We
picked up Yea again at noon and commenced our Lark hunt. First, stop was a
breeding site in the Eilat Mountains. We were unlucky with the Larks here, but
did find a flock of over 100 Trumpeter Finches
which is an unusually high count in that area.

Barabensis GullDead
Sea Sparrow

Next stop was Km49 on the route 12
road. A flock of Thick-billed Larks were present a week before we arrived but
we missed them. On the other side of the road a very pale Grey Shrike sat up on
the bushes. It was a good candidate for Steppe
Grey Shrike but it flew off a long way down the wadi before we could get
our scopes on it properly. We did find an Asiatic Wild Ass in this wadi as well
as more Common Warblers.

Asiatic Wild Ass

Last stop of the day was at Har Na
Azuz which just looked like a good place to stop for Larks. Our first confirmed
Finch’s Wheatear was here as was a Desert Wheatear and a flock of about 20
Crested Larks. Unfortunately, light
stopped play here.

8th January

A stop at Neot Smadar sewage works
produced our second Hooded Wheatear
of the trip. It sat up on a wire nicely for us to watch it. There were plenty
of birds in that area including Bluethroats,
Black Redstarts, Water Pipits, White Wagtails, a Green
Sandpiper and a Trumpeter Finch.

Thick-billed Lark

We had a very productive stop at
Meishar. First bird seen was an Asian
Desert Warbler. Unfortunately, it only showed to one observer and was
quickly lost. Then the first big flock of Larks was found. It held 18 Thick-billed Larks, many of which
looking very smart, as well as 2 Temminck’s
Larks. A flock of 5 more Larks flew over, of which 3 dropped into the low
vegetation. They turned out to be Bar-tailed
Larks when they emerged. Continued search produced another 12 Thick-billed Larks.

We then headed on our way to Ezuz once
again, where we thought there was the opportunity for so much more. At dusk we
came across a group of Mountain Gazelles that seem to be relatively numerous in
the area with animals seen at several locations..

Mountain Gazelle

9th January

We drove slowly and scanned across the
desert for our final shot at the Bustards. Sandgrouse seemed to be everywhere
this morning with 150+Pin-tailed Sandgrouse being most
numerous. Crowned Sandgrouse and Black-bellied Sandgrouse were all
around in smaller numbers. At one stop a Finch’s
Wheatear and Desert Wheatear sat
on top of the low vegetation. Then finally, our luck changes as 5 Macqueen’s Bustards strolled across
the desert behind the Wheatears not far from the end of the disused airstrip.

Macqueen’s Bustard

Next stop was Shezaf Reserve, Hatzeva.
Our luck was to continue as we found at least one, probably 2 ArabianWarblers in the Acacia’s north of the car park.

We met up later in the day with Yoav
Perlman. He took us into the kibbutz at Neot Hakikar to look for Nubian
Nightjars then to En Gedi for Hume’s Tawny Owl. We were unsuccessful at seeing
both these species though we did hear at least 4 Owls in the En Gedi hills. We
stayed in the En Gedi hostel that night.

Arabian Warbler

10th January

We had a lone Blue Rock Thrush in the hotel grounds in the morning whilst looking
for the wintering Kurdish Wheatear. 4
Fan-tailed Ravens were also a trip tick here.

Next stop was Wadi Mishmar where we
had a Great Spotted Cuckoo with the
more usual ScrubWarblers and Spectacled Warblers.

We headed up to the top of Wadi
Salvadora near the Dead Sea where after a short wait a pair of Sinai Rosefinches dropped in for a drink,
throughout our stay we were accompanied by rather inquisitive Blackstart and Tristram’s Grackles. 5
Griffon Vultures soared high over the cliffs too whilst Rock Hyrax’s looked
down on us.

Rock HyraxTristram’s
Grackle

We had no problem entering the West
Bank. However, we were slightly held up leaving as our car and belongings were
thoroughly checked for bombs etc at the checkpoint. After we got out of the
West Bank we took a left to Mount Gilboa. On the second big bend in the road we
instantly got a Long-billed Pipit
which gave excellent views. A Little Owl
called lower down the hill in the middle of the day.

Long-billed Pipit

After getting the Pipit we then headed
to the fish ponds at Tirat Zevi for a couple of hours before dusk. Just before
we got to the fish ponds we had a flock of 58
Stone Curlews on the outside of the Kibbutz. The ponds were crammed with
birds. Many Pygmy Cormorants were
all around the wet areas. Armenian Gulls
were in big numbers here. A flock on the far end of the fishponds had with it 6 Great Black-headed Gulls and a Caspian Gull. A couple of Black Storks were on the edges of the
ponds with hundreds of Herons and Egrets. A couple of Ospreys could be picked out amongst the hundreds of Black Kites. Many Night Herons flew out of their roosts in the evening.

Pygmy CormorantBlack
Stork

11th
January

Jay

We easily found 2 Syrian Woodpeckers outside our room in the morning drumming and
calling loudly. The middle eastern race of Jay
were all around the area. We started the day at Newe Ete fishponds where we had
a singing Cetti’s Warbler and an
impressive flock of 200+ Great
Black-headed Gulls with many Armenian
Gulls. The fish ponds held large flocks of waders and herons, especially nearly
dried out pools with flocks of 300+
Glossy Ibis, 100’s Egrets, 200+ Little Stints, 100’s Spur-winged Plovers
and the roosting gulls.

Great Black-headed GullArmenian
Gull

Spur-winged Plover

We then headed back to the Tirat Zevi fish
ponds at the far end to where we looked for the reed bed species. It didn’t
take long to see the first Clamarous
Reed Warbler. They called quite frequently but were often difficult to see
in the reeds. At least 6 were in the small area we walked. We also had a flock
of 7 Penduline Tits in the same
reeds. Bluethroats, Graceful Prinia, Zitting Cisticola and
Chiffchaffs were also in the reeds. We picked out a Booted Eagle with the Black
Kites. We then went back to the fish ponds where we had similar species to
the previous day but with the addition of 3
Temminck’s Stint. Kingfishers were definitely abundant in the area, with
these fish ponds holding at least 12
White-throated, 8 Pied and 3 Common
Kingfisher.

Pied KingfisherWhite-throated
Kingfisher

Next stop was Tishlovet Resevoir.
Well, we think we found it!?! We drove through a muddy bit of farmland to get
to ‘Danger, do not enter’ gates. So, we did the right thing and climbed through
the barbed wire fence to view a distant flock of c200 White-headed Ducks. We also had 3 female and a male Black Francolin around the perimeter
fence.

Common Crane

We then drove north to Hula Reserve.
This site has a massive flock of wintering Cranes.
It’s a bit like an extreme WWT of Israel with golf buggies for hire and a
mobile theatre that drive visitors through the middle of the Crane flock. If
you decide to ignore all this you will probably see more birds. Half way to the
Crane flock from the centre we had two, young Eastern Imperial Eagle and a couple of Greater Spotted Eagles feeding on a dead Crane fairly close to the
path. A couple of Marsh Harriers sat
next to them waiting for scraps. More Greater
Spotted Eagles circled overhead. A Caspian
Stonechat sat on top of the reeds before being booted by a Kestrel. A pair of Great White Pelicans sat in the middle of the far lagoon as did a
flock of Black-tailed Godwits.

Eastern Imperial EagleGreater
Spotted Eagle

12th January

We headed North in the morning to
Mount Hermon. At the start of the ski lifts a distant Western Rock Nuthatch
called but it was too distant to see. We then drove slowly back down the hill
away from the snow. The first stop was just before the Mount Hermon toll booth.
Whilst discussing if we were allowed to walk the path south, a Golden Eagle soared overhead perused by
a Long-legged Buzzard. We decided to
walk the path which was rewarded with a Sombre
Tit feeding on the ground under the acacias. As we carried on driving south
Rock Nuthatches could be heard on
most of the scree slopes. 2 showed particularly well half way down the mountain
road by half a yellow/green missile.

Golden Eagle & Long-legged
BuzzardGreater
Spotted Eagle

We stopped briefly again at Hula as we
picked out an Eastern Imperial Eagle
by the reserve entrance driving south to Ma’agan Mikhael.

At Ma’agan Mikhael we snuck through
the electric gates into the fish farm. The typical water species were present
with big numbers of Night Heron on
every pond, totalling at a minimum of 160. A few Common Mynas were along the water edge as many Swallows were coming into roost.

Night Heron

13th January

We had more time this morning to again
sneak into the fish ponds. Closer inspection of the Gulls produced a few Slender-billed Gulls, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and a few more Great Black-headed Gulls. A Citrine Wagtail walked the edges of the
smelly ponds with a Grey Wagtail.
There were many dead fish scattered around the ponds too manky for even the
Gulls to eat.

Common Myna

We then dipped some Cat C stuff in
Pardes Hanna before heading to the airport in good time for our flight.
Security seemed quit rigorous but we seemed to give everyone a laugh as all our
gear was checked. Finally we were able to relax and reflect on an amazing
holiday as we spent our remaining money on beer waiting for the delayed plane.